(Third update today. Thank you to book friends such as longtu168168xingegebbby75222 and Ai Ruotong for their monthly passes. Thank you to a large number of book friends for sending gifts. I look forward to continuing.)
That night, Zhao Zhen urgently summoned Su Jin. Before the summons, Yan Shu, Du Yan and others informed him of the sudden news.
Just a month ago, the Liao Kingdom withdrew all its 250,000 troops from the Xia-Liao border and mobilized them to the Song-Liao border in Datong Prefecture, Xijing. They were distributed from west to east along the Ningyuan, Wuzhou, Shuozhou, Weizhou lines, plus
In addition to the 350,000 troops originally deployed in the area of Yizhou and Zhuozhou in the south of Daoxijin Prefecture in Nanjing, the total strength of the Liao army deployed on the border of Liao and Song Dynasties has reached 600,000, which is almost the entire country's army.
Obviously the Liao people want to take action. Such a large-scale military operation will not be just a show. After a year of "licking" their wounds, the Khitan wolves are finally going to take action.
After Su Jin heard the news, he was also very surprised. The original estimate was that the Liao people would not dare to start a fight within two years. Unexpectedly, after one year and four months, the Liao people could no longer bear it.[
"Su Aiqing, I have heard the opinions of all the ministers. They all think that the Liao people are not going to show off this time, and they may invade our Song Dynasty Hedong Road and Hebei East and West Road. I want to hear your opinion.
"Zhao Zhen frowned, obviously a little panicked.
Su Jin stood up and took a few steps to stand still and said: "Your Majesty, I agree with you all. Such a large-scale mobilization of the army is not a child's play; and it can be seen that the Liao people know that the Xia Kingdom will not interfere.
Therefore, the soldiers and horses on the Xia-Liao border have all evacuated. It seems that the Liao people have a very clear judgment on the situation."
Zhao Zhen said: "Are you saying that the Xia Kingdom will stand idle? Didn't I conclude a treaty of friendship with the Xia people? Since the Xia Kingdom is a vassal state of the Song Dynasty, can't I order them to attack from the flank?"
Su Jin made some remarks, and Zhao Zhen sometimes seemed a little silly. The purpose of the friendship treaty was to prevent the Xia Kingdom from causing trouble, not to be driven by the Song Dynasty. It was already clear at that time, and now he is hurriedly speaking.
I don’t know what Zhao Zhen thinks when he talks about it again.
"Your Majesty, it is better to rely on one's own strength for the affairs of the Song Dynasty. It may be difficult to expect others to fulfill their wishes. I can see that the Liao people have done careful research. We, the Song Dynasty, are currently busy with domestic construction and are indeed a little unprepared; but the Liao people are too much.
Too arrogant, our officers and soldiers of the Song Dynasty have not slacked off at all on the Bazhou front line and the Ninghua Daizhou and Fengzhou front lines, but there is a huge disparity in the strength of the troops. I don’t know the specific deployment. Can Privy Du introduce it to you."
Du Yan hurriedly spread out the map and pointed to the direction and introduced: "The east and west roads of Hebei Province are stationed in the area from Caoqiao Pass to Yijin Pass of Waqiao Pass. We have five armies of Yongning, Shun'an, Ansu, Baoding and Xin'an. Guangxin is stationed in the rear.
The three armies of Suiyuan and Guangning are cooperating, with a total strength of about 180,000; the Hedong Road from Daizhou to Debao, and the Ninghua line are guarded by the five armies of Jingguo, Yongkang, Anyuan, Liaohua, and Rongsu, with a total strength of 120,000
Originally, the Liao people only had 350,000 troops on our border, so my defense of 300,000 against 350,000 would naturally be lost. Now that we have doubled our troops, it may be unbearable."
Yan Shu said: "If we just stick to the city, it might not be so difficult."
Su Jin waved his hand and said: "No, the Liao people are not Xia people. The Liao people's siege equipment is different from that of the Xia people. In the past, I heard their generals say in the Xia people's army that they had seen the Liao people.
Heavy machinery such as ladders, siege engines, trebuchets, and crossbows. In the Xia-Liao War the year before last, the Xia army captured a lot of these things in the battle of Kedun City. Now even the Xia Kingdom can imitate them.
I look at them with old eyes."
Yan Shu crossed his hands and said: "That's true. If you have the intention to keep something like this secret, the Liao people must have made complete preparations since they raised their troops."
Su Jin turned to Du Yan and asked: "Privilege Du, since you know that the enemy's forces are many times larger than mine, have you made any response? Where are the reinforcements?"
Du Yanqi said: "This... has not yet made a decision, so the order to increase troops has not yet been issued."
Su Jin was stunned, reached out and knocked on the case and said: "Isn't this nonsense? Now that you know the enemy troops are gathering, but you don't respond quickly, what is this?"
Du Yan was sweating, hesitating and not knowing what to say. He completely forgot that he was Su Jin's superior. He looked like a scolded primary school student in front of Su Jin. Yan Shu secretly sighed in his heart. Su Jin had gradually become more powerful, and Du Yan and his like were no longer the same.
He is his opponent, and maybe he will give up his position soon. Thinking of this, I can't help but feel happy and a little sad.
Zhao Zhen tried to smooth things over and said: "Su Aiqing, I want to listen to your opinion before making a decision. Du Aiqing has mentioned the reinforcement of troops. According to what you say, will the Liao army immediately start attacking?"
Su Jin sighed and stared at the map for a while and said: "Generally speaking, if a 600,000-strong army wants to launch an attack, it will take at least two or three months to prepare, but it cannot be ruled out that the Liao army can complete the preparations within one month.
We must gather in advance. If nothing goes wrong, we will definitely launch an attack within the month. It is still too late to mobilize troops from various states and rush to the front line. The problem is that except for the 200,000 forbidden troops in the capital, we seem to have irregular armies.
General Di Qing in the south is still fighting with Nong Zhigao, and our troops are stretched thin."
Yan Shu said: "The 200,000 troops from the northwest are the closest. Can they be mobilized immediately to march eastward? The Xia Kingdom will not take the opportunity to rebel now."
Su Jin's eyes lit up, and he was babbling and didn't know what to say. He frowned and scratched around on the map with his finger. Suddenly he patted his thigh and said: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Yan, Privy Du, I have a question.
count."
The three of them were startled by him, and Zhao Zhen hurriedly asked: "Is there any strategy to retreat from the enemy?"
Su Jin shook his head and said: "This is not a strategy to retreat from the enemy."[
Zhao Zhen had a look of disappointment on his face, but he heard Su Jin say: "But there is a strategy to annihilate the enemy."
The three of them were startled, their hearts beating wildly. Su Jin stretched out his hand and drew a line on the map and said: "Old people have said that the most taboo thing about fighting a wolf is to fight him face to face. The evil wolf has a copper head and an iron mouth.
Tofu "butt", since the Khitan wolf is coming in a fierce manner, we can't beat him with a hard fight, but even if we win, we will only lose both sides, and at most we will retreat. But if we go around behind him and blast his anus, we will teach him not to look at each other from head to tail.
, is he still so majestic? When the time comes, he will be unable to advance or retreat, and our army will surely gain great profits."
"Explode...explode...chrysanthemums?" Zhao Zhen, Jun and his ministers were stunned.
Su Jin hurriedly scolded himself for being frivolous. He was so happy that he even used slang from later generations. He pointed to the northwest and said: "The 200,000 troops from the northwest can naturally march eastward to Hebei Road or Hedong and Hexi Roads, but there is another one.
The choice is to go north."
"Moving north? Doesn't that mean entering the territory of Xia Kingdom?" Zhao Zhen said in confusion.
Su Jindao: "We want to take advantage of the territory of the Xia Kingdom, march eastward from the Helan Mountain Pass, and force the Liao capital to Beijing. The Liao army is concentrated in the south. There will be no defense in the east, west, north, including the interior. Our army is like a shit stick.
...No... It's like a sharp knife scratching in the belly of a wolf. Let's see if his 600,000-strong army can attack our Song Dynasty with peace of mind. As soon as they have the tendency to return, our border army must bravely pursue and hold them back.
If they don't let go, if the capital is lost, the Liao people will have no fighting spirit, and by then the overall situation will basically be in our hands."
Zhao Zhen and the other three were so shocked that they couldn't breathe. What a weird thing. They actually gave up the front and penetrated from the flanks, and went straight to the capital. If they could really succeed, maybe... maybe the Liao Kingdom would be angry.
Luck is cut off.
"But... the pressure from the front is great. If the Liao people ignore the rear and adopt a lose-lose strategy to attack southward and approach the capital, wouldn't it be bad?" Yan Shu saw the danger.
Su Jin nodded and said: "This is the most difficult part of the plan. We must block the advance of the Liao people at all costs. If there is a war, I suggest that the emperor temporarily avoids Jiangning Mansion. If it is necessary to make it public, just say that he will patrol the south; Beijing
All 200,000 imperial troops must be mobilized to the front line; in addition, a suitable general is needed to fight the defensive battle, and only one person can take on this position."
"Fan Xiwen?" Du Yan blurted out.
Su Jin nodded and said: "It's him. The deputy position is Han Qi. Han and Fan have rich experience in guarding the border and are quite good at dealing with Xia Liao. As long as the two of them join forces, the Liao army may not be able to invade so easily."
Zhao Zhen was silent. For such a proposal, he could not only consider the outcome, but also the impact. Using Han and Fan would negate the previous conclusion about the two, and it would also be a disguised slap in the face. He
As an emperor, you always have to consider things that others don't.
"Your Majesty, the country is more important than Mount Tai. Even if Han and Fan have had a past, they should be given a chance to make atonement for their sins. Fan Xiwen is old and will probably retire soon after this battle. Why does the Emperor need to remember his things? Please
Your Majesty, please think twice." Su Jin said sincerely.
Zhao Zhen hesitated again and again and looked at Yan Shu and others. Yan Shu nodded slightly. Zhao Zhen finally sighed and said: "Forget it, let's use Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi."
Du Yan said: "Who will lead the 200,000 troops that broke into the Liao Kingdom?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "If the emperor and your lords think that I, Su Jin, am still worthy of use, I will naturally be in charge. Can I stand by the plan I proposed?